NEW YORK CITY December 15, 2011 – Nice Insight today announced publication of its Q4, 2011 marketing intelligence report for the pharmaceutical and biotech CRO/CMO industry. The release of this fourth quarter report enables companies buying the research to see developing trends over the course of 2011, as well as anticipated spending on various services for 2012. In addition, survey research provides benchmark metrics for customer perception and customer awareness in the industry.
Highlights from the fourth quarter include an apparent stabilization in the composition of survey respondents. Victor Coker, Director of Business Intelligence, said, “Long-term stability of survey respondent makeup enhances our ability to create meaningful industry benchmarks. Along with the size of the Nice Insight sampling comfortably superseding other primary research in this market, this is an inherent benefit in our product.”
Data from the Q4 Brand Index report showed that only 22% of companies scored lower than 40% in overall customer awareness. The trend over four quarters has shown evidence of broader stated awareness of CROs and CMOs, but this may be representative of the larger and better-matched survey respondent sample.
Outsourcing budgets among respondents remained consistent throughout 2011, and are anticipated to remain steady for 2012. Of the different segmented groups, Big Pharma spends the most on outsourcing. However, expenditure by this group decreased by $28M between Q1 and Q4, 2011.
Although the outsourcing spend for Biotech companies increased over the course of 2011, anticipated spend for 2012 was only marginally higher than projected in Q1 2011, increasing from $483M to $489M. Specialty Pharma showed the largest drop in outsourcing expenditure, reducing outlay by $110M between Q1 and Q4. Emerging/Start-Up/Niche Pharma showed the greatest growth in outsourcing expenditure, with an $85M increase in spending.
Quality and Reliability remained the number one and two market drivers for the fourth consecutive quarter. Regulatory perception overtook Productivity in importance, which might reflect the revelation of a number of recent high-profile regulatory lapses that came to light just after the release of the Q3 survey and thus weren’t reflected in that report.
New data mined in the Q4 survey included specific information regarding perceptions and use of outsourcing to emerging markets. Although the United States & Canada remain by far the largest outsourcing market, capturing 36% of projected spending on outsourcing, emerging markets as a whole capture 53%. Sponsors show the greatest bias toward established markets when outsourcing analytical testing as compared to other services, with 69% of respondents saying they preferred established markets for that service compared to only 11% for emerging markets.
In 2011, Nice Insight data has been cited in over 240 pages of editorial content in industry publications, with monthly features in Life Science Leader (“Outsourcing Insights”), and articles across a range of titles including Fierce Pharma, Pharmaceutical Technology and BioPharm International.
Nice Insight quarterly intelligence products will be demonstrated by That’s Nice staff at Infomex USA in New Orleans from February 14-17, and representatives will also be attending DCAT Week in New York from March 12-15. Visit Nice Insight on the web at www.niceinsight.com.
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